Ventral Prostate - Overview

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The prostate of rodents, unlike that of man, contains separate lobes: ventral, dorsal, lateral (the dorsal and lateral lobes are frequently combined as dorsolateral), and anterior (coagulating gland). All lobes consist of branching blind-ending tubules that are surrounded by a thin fibromuscular layer; between the tubules (glands) is loose connective tissue. The prostate glands contain luminal secretory, basal, and neuroendocrine (<0.3%) cells, but the basal and neuroendocrine cells can be identified by light microscope only after immunostaining for a cell-specific marker (e.g., keratin 5 for basal cells, chromogranin for neuroendocrine cells). The secretions of the prostate glands are carried by ducts to the colliculus seminalis. After copulation the prostate secretions together with the secretions of the seminal vesicles and bulbourethral glands form the copulatory plug to keep semen within the vagina.

The prostate lobes differ from each other in the appearance of both the epithelium lining the glands and the secretion in the gland lumen. The ventral prostate is lined by columnar epithelium that exhibits focal folding. The epithelium contains luminal secretory cells with basal nuclei. The ventral prostate produces homogenous slightly basophilic secretion.

The 4X micrograph shows the ducts and glands of the ventral prostate and the urethral wall. The 10X and 20X micrographs display the glands in increasing detail. In the 40X micrograph the luminal secretory cells with small basal nuclei are visible.